Pokemon Heart
by Lillystream
Summary: I'm sure we've all wondered the same thing; what would happen if Pokemon were real? The school's most hated girl gets a taste of it would be like while dealing with the disaster that is her life. Everything about it is wrong: the mysterious invitation to play a "game", the rapid changing of her life, and the struggle of keeping herself together; will she be able to hang on?
1. The Beginning of the End

**Chapter 1**

(The Beginning)

"What a dork! Look at what she's wearing!"

"She's so quiet. Nobody likes her you know."

"What's her problem? She's so mean to everyone! Look at how cold she is!"

"She doesn't talk to anyone. What a loser! Just sitting in her emo corner like the loner she is!"

_Just leave her the hell alone and she won't be such a bitch_, I thought to myself. I knew the whispers of the other students were directed towards me; a kind of third eye you developed when people hated you as much as they seemed to hate me.

I was the school's "tough chick". I was scary and mean to people; at least, that's what all the teenagers that go to my stupid high school say. I honestly hadn't even meant to be. I don't talk to people, and that makes me this loser that nobody likes or stops gossiping about for a loss of something else? Sheesh, stereotypes!

"Hey, babe, why so quiet?" a boy from my science class shouted across the hall. Everyone who heard, which was the whole hall, busted up laughing.

"Why haven't your balls grown since the first grade?" I growled back audibly without looking at him, shooting him the bird as I passed him.

"Bitch!" I heard him whisper to his friends who were all laughing hysterically at him, none of them seeming to give one ounce of a damn that their buddy just got completely dissed.

This was what normally happened at school. I showed up to learn, only to have to deal with a bunch of insensitive, uneducated, idiotic Neanderthals and be called a bitch when I defended myself. It was such a waste of time, energy, and patience.

"What's got you so wound up?" someone to my left asked. I realized it was Susan, the biggest jerk of them all; aka, the queen of the Populars. "Having a bad day, Tigress?"

"What do you want?" I growled, hating when that name came out of her mouth.

"Well, you're just always so quiet and on your lonesome. Don't you want friends?" she sneered.

"Friends… I could stick with. Traitors like you? Not so much, sorry." I walked right by her and left her and her bitch friends alone to gossip, whisper, and giggle.

"Is she always like that?"

I kept walking until I accidentally bumped into someone. I didn't know her name… but I'd seen her face before. I recognized her as one of the girls in my first period art class. A girl with brown hair and brown eyes. She didn't seem too bad or insufferable to me, and she was quiet too; but in more of a shy way than my way. Her way didn't get her hated. "Sorry," I said nonchalantly.

"Oh, no! Really… it was my fault…" she whispered in alarm. Oh yeah, I scared people. I tended to forget that sometimes. I don't know how I forgot when I was constantly under the tormenting reminders of my "peers"; you know those things that are supposed to be equal. So much for that, education system.

I said nothing else and kept on walking. It was lunch and everyone else was headed towards the cafeteria. I wasn't. I never was. I always spent my lunch periods at the library, where it was quiet and peaceful. I was actually good friends with the librarian; though, she was more like a mother to me. She was the only one who ever really understood me; the real me.

"Hello Laura!" I called in as I usually did.

"Hey Hailey baby! How you doin girl?" she replied as she usually did.

"Socially disabled as I always am."

"Oh, come on now. Can't those socialites ever just leave you alone? You're quiet; that should make you less noticeable, not more!"

Laura had dark, glowing ebony skin and lustrous black hair always tied up into a bun. Her eyes were a bright shade of emerald green, which I found strange yet beautiful. She was a little round, kind of plump, but I always told her it was to contain all the love she had inside of her – something to which she would always laugh and drop the subject. She wasn't necessarily a family friend, but she's known me since I was in kindergarten. Laura's name was actually Mrs. Gardenia, but we were so casual with each other, it never really mattered.

I may want to introduce myself while I'm at it. My name is Hailey Hart; fifteen years old and in the ninth grade at Westside High School. Rather, a place that I, personally, believe should be labeled as the reincarnation of hell. My hair and eye color is always said to be a different color. I have dirty blonde hair that either makes me look really blonde or like a brunette. It could get annoying that my eyes happened change whenever I wore a different colored shirt or something. They'll either be blue, green, grey, blue-green, blue-grey, or grey-green or any other combination you could think of for those colors. Also, unfortunately, I happen to be fairly short; okay, I'm over-exaggerating. I'm of average height, but everyone else just happens to be a lot taller than me.

Oh yeah; I'm sure I'd be cute or have a bunch of friends or – I know this is _really_ stretching it – a Popular, if I wasn't one of the school's most rejected. Seriously, I'm on the popular kid's least wanted list. Just ask them. They'll agree.

You see, I've never fit in anywhere. Not now, not ever. I'm just quiet. What's wrong with that? Apparently everything. Soon after I was hated by society, I got my sharp tongue and icy stature; that sure as shit didn't help me. Adults just say I'm antisocial. As if. Society just sucks ass!

"Well, they don't know how cute and funny you really are, like I do!" Laura said. "Now, did you finish the series I recommended to you?"

"_Hunger Games_? Yes and they were amazing. Great pick as usual, Laura."

"I knew you'd love em! Oh, I got a new shipping of books just the other day too! Ooh, you're gonna love em baby!"

"Well, I normally do," I said laughing.

"The Ice Queen laughs? I thought I'd never see the day."

I spun around so fast I almost fell over. Standing in front of me was a very tall girl with a long brown ponytail and light blue eyes. I glared at her coldly as Laura asked, "What can I do you for, honey?"

"I'm just here to return a book I borrowed the other day. It was pretty interesting."

"Oh, _The Giver_? Yes, yes, very interesting. I liked it well myself. Didn't you read it last month, Hailey? How was it?"

"Yeah, I read it. It was alright. Though the author kept adding scenes and parts that were completely irrelevant to the plot; the kinds that get people confused. Besides that it was pretty cool. Wouldn't give it three thumbs up though."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah; it's a pretty strange writing style, but whatever, right? Well, anyways, thanks for coming, honey," Laura said to the tall girl.

She left, keeping an eye on me the entire time. I scowled at her and helped Laura with the new book shipment the school got from donations concerned parents or just random strangers with a twinge of generosity sent in.

"Do you even know that girl?" Laura asked me.

"Nope. Never seen her before in my life."

"Oh, well, why were you so cold with her? See! You see? You're vicious to even complete strangers. 'I didn't do anything', you always tell me. Mm hmm. Sure, go on; keep tellin yourself that baby girl."

I smiled. "Alright, I always have."

"That's right girl! Don't you go a changin for nobody; no-_**body**_! Darlin, you sure have your life set for people to hate you, don't you?"

"You know it!" I laughed.

"Well, anyways, you'd better be getting to class, child! Lunch is almost over!"

"Don't you remember? It's a short day today; all students go home after lunch."

"Ooh, I hate these days! They make kids even stupider than they already are!"

"Oh, Laura! I'll see you tomorrow, kay?"

"Alright, sweet pea. See ya tomorrow darlin. Bye-bye now! Have a safe trip home now, ya hear? I don't want my favorite gal run over by some darn car!"

"Bye, Laura!" I called out as I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door to the library. I started my walk home as I did every day. I didn't get a ride – or a normal life – because I didn't have any friends, reliable parents, or relatives that gave enough of a shit. Not like I had any friends at all.

"Hey guys, look! It's the emo chick!" I heard a boy's voice calling to who I assumed were his friends – probably either a bunch of irrelevant punk-bitches or Populars; didn't really care at this point.

_Give me a break!_ I thought. Can't I get home without somebody bugging me for once? Who did I kill in a past life; the president? Freaking Santa Claus? Maybe the queen of some glorious kingdom of gold and heaven? Did I kill God and sell his blood for a loaf of bread? WHAT DID THE GODS WANT FROM ME!?

"Where ya goin, sweet heart?" one of the boys standing with the first one asked.

"None of your business," I snarled.

"Oh, we've got us a feisty one, now don't we?" a third boy crooned.

"Ugh," I muttered in disgust, "What is this; the 80's?"

"Leave the girl alone, you bastards."

We all turned around to see a boy with spiky blonde hair and slanted teal eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him. He was one of the Populars. What was he doing defending me? Any prep in their right mind would immediately join in with the Hailey-hating. It was a rather popular sport and I was surprised it hadn't become a professional thing or something.

"What are you doing, Drew?" the first boy asked, more shocked than I was.

"Not being an asshole like you guys," he responded. He walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. It took all my self-restraint not to shrug him off and pull my shoulder away. I mean, the boy was helping me; what was I going to do? Diss him? "C'mon, walk with me."

He led me in the direction of my house until the three guys were out of sight.

"Why'd you do that?" I asked accusingly, a suspicious look on my face. My Hailey instincts made me act like this towards everyone, though I had no idea why. I was actually curious to know the reason as to why this guy helped me; you know… 'cause he was a Popular. Actually, why am I defending myself? He was a Popular helping one of the Rejects; I had every right to be suspicious!

"Nobody should make fun of you just for being quiet and snappish. And I'm pretty sure you're only mean to people because they make fun of you for being quiet, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much dead on, bro. You should get yourself a trophy for that. Is that all?"

"I am also a gentleman that never stands for a damsel being bothered by cowardly idiots without any balls or brains," he chuckled.

"Well, thanks," I said, smiling, "but who said I was a damsel?"

"I did," he said, thrusting his thumb against his chest as he grinned and laughed. "And, yay! I got you to smile!"

"Congratulations; consider yourself one of the only people with that kind of accomplishment."

"Really? Am I your friend now?" he said, smiling.

"Maybe…" I said laughing.

He chuckled. "Am I your first friend?"

I hesitated; thinking about telling him. No; I didn't know him at all and he didn't know me. "Yeah… I guess… Where do you live anyway?"

"Oh, stalker questions already?" he teased jokingly. "I live that way. Rosewell Street."

"What?" I asked, bewildered. "You live on Rosewell Street too?"

"No way! We're neighbors? Sweet! Let's start walking then! Hey, can we walk home together from now on, new best friend?"

"Sure," I smiled. So this was what it was like to have a friend. "But I don't know about _best_ friends," I teased.

"I'm your one and only friend, thus I am your best friend."

"This is true. Fine, you've got me beat on that one. Which house is yours?"

"The white one with black trimmings."

"That's next door to mine!"

"Really? You live in the awesome blue and white house?"

"That's mine all right."

"Great! Now I can look over your wall and spy on you!"

"Who's a stalker now?" I grinned.

He chuckled for a minute before falling into silence. "You know," he said solemnly, looking at me meaningfully, "you're not as bad as everyone says you are."

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, my name's Hailey."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Everyone in the school knows who you are; the Ice Queen; the blonde menace; Tigress – though I don't know where that one started; need I continue? And then there's that cat thing. What's up with you and cats anyways?"

"Ugh, the nicknames again? I hate those. How do people come up with this shit?" I growled, blushing a deep red at the stupid names. "Do they hide out in their basements over the weekend and write these up on Secret Society Facebook Groups without me knowing? And what's up with that cat thing? I'M NOT A CAT!"

"Yeah… but you act like one sometimes."

"W-what!? How so?" I shouted.

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "You sometimes hiss instead of groaning and you growl sometimes…"

"Dogs growl… Not cats." I said pointedly. "Plus I only do that shit when I'm pissed off."

"Well… You make little kitty noises when you fall over, or bump into something, or get hurt physically in any way shape or form…"

I blushed and looked away in embarrassment. "I don't fall over that often… Or any of that stuff."

"More than almost anyone else…"

"Anyways," I said abruptly, trying to get off of the subject, "what's your name?"

"Copper. Drew Copper, that is. Fully at your service, milady," he said with a goofy accent, making a really low bow.

"You're such a dork!" I laughed.

"I am not a whale penis! To think such a… okay, lady doesn't fit you much, but yeah…"

I blushed at the realization of what he said. "Our biology teacher may be a pervert, but don't go quoting the woman! She is so creepy! Why does she say stuff like that?"

"Do you like pokemon?"

"Random question!" I said in an accusing sounding tone, pointing at him dramatically.

"Not really that random, since you said dork."

"Are you referring to the male whale anatomy kind or what I meant?"

"What you meant."

"Hmm, that depends. What's your favorite kind?"

"Arcticuno. Yours?"

Without missing a beat I said, "Well, my favorite pokemon of all time is Eevee and my favorite of Eevee's evolutions is Glaceon."

"Aww," he smiled stupidly and poked my cheek.

"W-what?" I growled.

"Second favorite pokemon?"

"… Mew."

"AWW!" He kept poking my face. "Third fave pokemon?"

"Pikachu."

"Typical."

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Cute pokemon, huh?"

"Oh, shut up!" I swatted his hand away.

That's how we spent the journey home. Joking around, laughing, and poking fun. Having a friend wasn't all too bad, I guess.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-Pokemon Heart -x-x -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bored out of my mind, I walked into my room, threw my backpack on the carpeted floor, and plopped onto my bed, not bothering to turn on the lights. I preferred darkness; not to be emo, but if I wasn't reading or writing a book or story or doing any homework, what was the point? Plus it conserved energy! But, if any of the kids at school found out about that little fact; I'd be _**really**_ an outcast then, huh? Not that I wasn't already.

Taking out my DS Lite from my case I had hidden securely and safely under my mattress, I turned the device on. The light of the screen lit up my face and casted light across the room, creating shadows that shifted around me.

I waited for the game I inserted, Pokemon Heartgold, to start. I was, instead, greeted by a black screen and a white caption with the icon of an envelope.

"Hmm…" I mused in a bored tone. "What the heck is this?"

"You have an important message. Do you wish to read it?" was what the screen said.

"Why not?" I muttered sarcastically while I rolled my eyes and tapped the screen, making the box open into some kind of letter.

"Welcome, Miss Hart. I have a question for you." As I read the message, I felt my eyes narrow, my skin beginning to form goose bumps; I felt something chilling about the whole thing, almost as if something other-worldly was involved or something. Or, as some would call it, I felt a disturbance in the force. But that didn't stop me. "I have looked into your life quite a bit and think you'll find my proposal very quite interesting. You see; I wish for you to partake in a… game of sorts, you might say. Do you wish to hear more?"

A smirk made its way to my face as I saw the yes or no captions pop up on the screen.

"Sounds interesting." I grinned, a determined and confident look plastered on my face; God I was a cocky kid. My stylus tapped the "yes" button and another message box came up.

"Great! I sincerely hope you enjoy your time playing my game. Have you heard of pokemon?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I read the last part. I tapped the "yes" again. I didn't get why it asked; of course I had known; it was the game I had intended on playing when the message popped up. Then I thought, maybe the message wasn't just going out to people playing pokemon but to other people as well. A nonbiased poll maybe?

"Even better!" the message box read again. "There are roughly one hundred thousand of you who have agreed to my questions so far. I shall only explain the rules of the game to those who, without a doubt, shall participate. If you do not choose to play, your memory of this shall be erased and you'll never get the chance to play again. If you do, you will get to experience the most amazing game ever thought of or created by anyone and the rules shall be explained."

"Wow. It's that serious?" I asked skeptically out loud.

"Shall you participate?" was above the "yes" and "no" caption options.

I tapped "yes" again and smirked, not knowing what I would be getting myself into. It had sounded like fun at the time.

"Wonderful! Now only four thousand of you are left to play!" the screen read, as if it were actually cheerful itself. "Now we can get to the most important part of all of this!"

"The!" I felt something cold stir in the blood surging through my body as these words appeared on my screen. "Rules!" But I didn't pay it any attention. I was pretty stupid too, back then.

"Rule number one; you shall each be given an egg to hatch and raise."

"An egg?" I asked in confusion.

"Two; if you fail to care for your egg before and after it hatches, it shall simply be given to another player who has already hatched and is taking good care of their egg."

"Seems fair enough," I shrugged.

"Rule number three; if your egg has been defeated in battle or killed, your memory will be wiped clean and your pokemon will either be given to the victorious trainer or reborn in its original world. If it is defeated in battle, it will be given to the trainer. If it dies – whether from battle or outside causes – it shall be sent back to its world of origin."

"Whoa…" I breathed. "That seems just a little harsh." And I had liked it that way at the time. I'd soon learn that was a mistake; a cruel and unforgiving mistake you can only make once in your life.

"Rule number four; you must keep the fact that you have pokemon a secret. I have made it slightly more convenient for you by making humans uninvolved in the game or ex-players without pokemon of their own unable to see yours. However, humans are still able to feel, hear, touch, see, and smell – depending on the move – your pokemon's attacks."

"Seems fair…" I mused.

"And rule number five; the game ends in a year's time and the winner is either the last standing or the one with the fullest pokedex!"

"Sounds cool."

"And, of course; as all contests and competitions go; there shall be a secret reward for winning at the end of the year! Don't worry; it'll be very worth your while, I believe. Thank you for participating and I can't wait to see how this turns out! Have fun!"

"Cool! Wait! When does this thing start?" My question was answered almost immediately by my whole DS glowing and wrapping itself around my wrist. "W-what the!?" I exclaimed, shielding my eyes from the bright light with my arm. When I dared to open them again, a weird device was where my DS should have been. It had a screen and a few buttons, but something that looked like a Pokeball at the top. Then, in my lap, was a Pokedex. Yeah, that's right, you heard me; a mother friggin Pokedex! I pressed one of the buttons on the screen and in my hand appeared another Pokeball. This day couldn't get better! I was so fricking excited! … Ugh! I'm such a closet nerd.

I pressed the button again and the ball went back. The Pokeball at the top caught my attention again, and I was tempted to see what would happen if I pressed it; so I did it. And out popped an egg; my egg. It was a chocolate brown in color and it had a cream colored splotch at the top – very much like an Eevee's tail. I tilted my head in confusion.

"You mean this isn't a virtual game?"

Then, out of nowhere, the screen of the new, strange device around my wrist started blinking, telling me I had a message. I tapped the "accept" button and the screen sort of turned three dimensional. It zoomed out in front of me and off of the device like a hologram. Letters began to appear on the screen as if they were being typed by someone… or something.

"Miss Hailey Hart," the words across the screen said, "it is wonderful to hear you are able to play my game. The device you should find wrapped around your wrist is what I call a Poke Commune; it is a device I invented with the help of my colleagues. You can use it to store everything for your pokemon needs. It also doubles as a sort of Pokemon Storage as well; like a PC. Up to one hundred pokeballs can fit in there. If you have more than six, you can use the buttons to select which one you want to use. The Poke Commune can also read information off of a pokemon and transmit it to your pokedex. It will tell you the level, moves, health, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses of your pokemon. Also, if you haven't already, you should find the egg I was talking of earlier in the top pokeball."

I nodded my head eagerly, hugging the egg closer to me.

"The egg you have received is fit best to your personality and the pokemon's personality is something that shall help you on later to let you grow as your pokemon grows; teach 'em well! On to the next thing; the pokedex should be there and is what you must fill by the time the game ends. There are settings on your Poke Commune that makes the Pokedex a part of your Poke Commune for convenience purposes. Your egg should be hatched within the first month, or you shall be put in a very, very bad position. Oh, and by filling in the Dex, you'll need legendaries too! But none of you playing have received any legendary eggs. No worries! _They'll come to you eventually on their own."_

The last part sent a horrible chill down my spine. A hidden feeling of dread sent little, almost microscopic, tingles of electricity in the back of my mind making the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand erect in unease. I didn't understand why at the time, but it was fear. A fear of what, I didn't know, but it was going to be big and it was going to be bad.

"You have all been given the other kinds of pokemon. Every single pokemon in the world known to existence has been handed out since there are so many different kinds of personalities in the human race. However, the kinds you'll have to _keep a real eye out for_ will be the legendary birds; Arcticuno, Zapdos, and Moltres; Mew, Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-oh, Celebi, the legendary beasts; Entei, Suicune, and Raiku; Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Latias and Latios, Jirachi, Deoxys, Uxie, Mespirit, Azelf, Dialga, Palkia, Heatran, Regigigas, Giritina, Cresselia, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Victini, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Zekrom, and finally Reshriam."

"Damn," I breathed. That was a whole lot of legendaries. Those sheer numbers made me realize at once just how big this was. There were around six hundred or trainers I would have to deal with other than the legendaries. Well, they'd help by taking care of themselves across the globe and everything; but I still had my hands a little bit full.

"For those whose pokemon that would normally require something other than leveling up, such as an evolution stone or trading, that will be changed just for this game. They will evolve due to their trainer's hard work. And, if you own an eevee egg – there are seven of you in the whole world out of everyone playing – your personality, again, shall determine your pokemon's evolution. The same holds true for all trainers with pokemon who have multiple evolution possibilities available to them."

"Cool!" Throughout all the seeming downsides given, I was stoked and couldn't wait for my egg to hatch and for the game to actually begin. "This is great!"

"Oh, and a quick note; you are allowed to create alliances, just as long as you realize there can only be one winner and most of you are likely to be taken out. You could also be turned against each other at some point when there are only ten to two people are left in the competition. Another thing to keep in mind; if you have allies, you are just as sure to have enemies and if you are smart enough to gather together, surely enough, they will do the same. There will be some of you out there that will hunt down the others. Some will try to hide out and avoid the others and I will tell you now; either that will work splendidly, or completely against you. Let me say this now, before this gets out of hand; in this game almost anything goes. Well, just so long as you don't kill non-players, humans, and the original rules and steps are followed. But, other than that, there are no further rules and almost anything is allowed. And remember; try to be as creative as possible. Thank you all and let the game begin!"

"Sounds like my kind of game, doesn't it?"

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	2. Eevees, Teenagers, High School - oh my!

**Chapter 2**

(Day 2)

"Mornin', Hailey!" I heard my name being called loudly from outside. I walked over to my window and unlocked it, looking out to see Drew in a long sleeved shirt. _Why is he wearing that when it's almost eighty degrees outside?_ I thought to myself as I waved at him.

"Mornin', Drew! I'll be down in a minute!" I called back. I swept my Poke Commune and my Pokedex into my backpack in a quick, fluid movement and I raced downstairs. "Good morning, mother!" I greeted my mom as I grabbed a piece of toast from the counter.

"You're eating bread on the way to school? People only do that in anime, young lady!" she scolded me half-heartedly, laughing a little.

"Well, whatever! I have to go with Drew now!"

"Oh, who is he?" she got _that_ look on her face again: I hated that look.

"He's my friend, mom. Nothing more, nothing less. Now stop imagining my wedding and let me go to school," I grumbled and snatched another piece of toast.

"Fine," she sighed. "Get going. Have a nice day!"

"M'kay!" I said, though it was muffled through the toast that I nearly finished by the time I reached Drew. "Why are you wearing that jacket?" I asked him.

"Oh, this?" he said, unconsciously pulling one sleeve further down, concealing his wrist completely. "I don't know… I felt like it?"

"Trying to make a new fashion statement, eh? You have my complete support! Let's show the world jackets are people too!"

"You're kidding, right?"

"'Course I am, stupid. Now, seriously, what's with the jacket? Isn't it hot in that thing?"

"What happened to jackets being people too?"

"Again, I was only kidding."

"It's nothing. Just let it go!" he said a little harshly, catching me off guard.

"... Fine… I don't see what the big deal is anyway," I muttered quietly.

"Oh… Gosh, I'm sorry, Hailey," he said quickly, noticing my hurt expression. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that. But can we please just drop the subject and go to school?"

"I'm perfectly fine with that," I relented, not wanting to lose the only friend I had.

"Good. Now let's get going. Don't want to be late, now do we?"

"I don't know; it might give us an opportunity to lower my reputation."

"Sarcasm was written all over that," he deadpanned.

"Duh, now let's go."

The walk to school was pretty uneventful. We walked in silence when we weren't talking about one thing or another.

(History Class)

"This is so boring," I grumbled to myself quietly, wanting this stupid class to be over. My history teacher was fricking awesome and hilarious and I actually wasn't hated by some of the people in the class, making it one of my favorite classes. However, today, our class had a boring, stupid substitute and I wanted out.

The bell finally rang, alerting all the students that the day was officially over. It was a short day; without it, many high school students probably wouldn't make it through the week. Some short days I went home just like the other kids, but other times I stayed behind to help out Laura.

A few moments after the bell rang, my backpack began to almost violently shake; _all on its own!_

I jumped and tried not to panic. _What the heck is going on_? I wondered. Then, just as quickly, I remembered; the egg!_ ALREADY? I only just got it yesterday!_

I raced down the hall, accidentally bumping into people and knocking them over without a word of apology. _Whatever_, I thought. _They probably all hated me regardless._

I rounded the corner of the hallway I was in and ducked through the doors, ahead of all the others. I kept running, not looking back. I had to get out of there quickly. Despite my thoughts of escape, I soon heard the sound of feet pounding hard on the asphalt behind me. I barely looked over my shoulder before recognizing the person as Drew. Crap!

I ran harder as my bag's shaking intensified. Drew didn't relent, trying to keep up as I tried to get away. I couldn't let him see the egg or what was about to hatch from it. Something like that would probably get me in serious trouble with the Big Guy who created the game; whoever that was.

I reached the park and skidded to a stop after dodging what felt like eighty trees and bushes. It felt like I was deep enough into the wooded part of the park to have lost him. I was wrong. Just as I kneeled down against a tree and unzipped my backpack, taking out my glowing egg and hugging it against my chest, Drew crashed through the bushes and witnessed my egg hatching.

After the glowing subsided, a small, fox-like pokemon sat on my lap, staring up at me curiously. "Eevee," I whispered. I looked up to see Drew beaming at me. "Look," I started, "I can explain everything."

"Are you playing the game too?" he said.

"Thanks for explaining it for me. Wait… 'Too'?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah; I'm playing too! The message appeared on my DS last night and I thought 'Hey! Why not?' Mine hatched earlier! A Togepi. So you got an Eevee? I bet you're pretty happy about that!" We both grinned at each other, happy we were both in this together.

"Ahem," the sound of the Eevee clearing its throat interrupted us. We both looked down to see the Pokemon with a frustrated look on its face. "How long are you going to keep me waiting? We have stuff to do!" it said the last part looking up at me. Its voice sounded female... and bitchy.

"You can talk?" I asked in amazement.

"Of course I can! Now, let's hurry up with the introductions. I am aware of my trainer's name being Hailey and I'm sure that's you," she nodded to me. I nodded once back to confirm. "And I've no idea who you are," she glanced at Drew, "but apparently you are playing the game as well making you either a friend or a foe. Which one are you?"

"Friend. Definitely a friend." He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Good. Now then, I am Eevee and –"

"Nope! I'm giving you a name," I interrupted.

"Alright… What is it?"

"Fine!"

"I said you could though…" the furry Pokemon said in confusion.

"No, silly," I laughed. "That's your name! Fine."

"Is that the best you could come up with?" she asked me irritably.

"Nope, but I like it."

"My Togepi's name is Embryo," Drew said with a nervous smile on his face.

"That's great," Fine and I said, me saying it with kindness and approval while Fine said it with an annoyed tone as if she'd give anything to be anywhere else with anybody else.

"Now then," Fine continued almost as if Drew hadn't said anything, "how are we going to train? When will we start and what will we do? We should probably work on strategies too… Since we have this guy over here," she nodded in Drew's general direction, "we might as well include him if he's going to be our ally in this thing. Also, we might want to search for other trainers that might be friendly. Honestly I think we should keep on the down-low for the first week at the least. There will be a lot of trainers out for cold blood; so it'd be dangerous to approach them without caution. And – "

"GOSH YOU TALK A LOT!" I shouted in exasperation. She was already thinking of the competition when she was just born? Drill-sergeant child much? What; was she Hitler's baby or something? Well, minus the German nationality, the whole extreme anti-Semitism, being the dictator of Nazi Germany, and the Holocaust… but give her a little hair-cut and a Hitler-stache and they'd be twins; one of them being much fuzzier, but twins all the same!

"…" Fine gave me a blank look and shook her head in what seemed like disappointment. "I thought I'd be given a trainer with much more experience… Oh well. You'd better take this competition seriously; it's literally a life-or-death situation. Well, for me it is; you probably wouldn't die or be taken away, you'd just lose your memory of everything that's happened from yesterday and during the entire year we play. Sucks for people who lose later on; they have more memories to lose than those who are eliminated in the beginning."

"You're a thoughtful little Eevee, aren't you?" I asked. My hand was itching to scratch her behind the ears, but her given personality probably wouldn't allow it. She was adorable; she was a flipping Eevee for crying out loud! But she was a big bratty pile of sass from what I could tell. I had learned how to sense this kind of thing from knowing Susan Lane since Kindergarten. Because of this, I also knew – unfortunately – how to sense the transformation from kind and loving to vain and bratty.

She sniffed conceitedly. "Of course. Now then, we must get back to our base… Where shall we do all of our training? And, if we get allies; we have one so that counts; where will we all meet?"

I looked around. A little gust of wind travelled around the trees, bringing a somewhat solemn, yet warm feeling of welcome; a feeling of nostalgia. I loved the breeze, especially when it was in this forest. I had spent most of my time in the forest ever since I was a kid – whether I was playing, walking, adventuring, writing or drawing; I came here. Whenever there was a breeze, it rustled the leaves; making a harmonious symphony among the trees and brought fresh scents of pine and oak, making the air smell like nature. An idea popped into my head and I turned to the others excitedly.

Fine must've sensed that I was excited about something, because she turned to me and asked, "Do you have an idea, Hailey?"

"Why not here?" I said.

"Why not what here?" Drew asked, a confused look on his face.

"We could all meet here! It'd be perfect! Sure; we might want to build a fort or whatever, don't know how we would though. But we could at least try to with some teamwork and a little time!"

"That is if we have time…" Fine whispered mysteriously. "Alright; we could try it. It seems like a nice place to train and meet anyhow. No use wasting time trying to find someplace else, now is there?"

"YAY!" I squealed and ran around the place. "Hey, Drew?"

He smiled down at me. "What is it?"

"Bring out Embryo already! Sheesh; he must be all alone in his lonely lonesome aloneness wanting to meet his new friends!"

Drew beamed "You're right!" He tapped a button on his Poke Commune and a pokeball popped out of the screen. He released his pokemon, revealing his Togepi.

"What's wrong, Drew? Are we being attacked!? Already? We just started today!" A look of alarm and panic shot through the egg pokemon's face. "I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YET! I DON'T KNOW HOW!" The little pokemon burst into tears as Drew picked him up and began to cradle him.

"Don't worry, little guy," he said soothingly. "We're not being attacked. We have some friends I want you to meet. Look," he turned so that Embryo could see us. His expression of terror left and was replaced by happiness.

"Is that girl Hailey? Drew told me about you," he said as he jumped out of Drew's arms and landed in front of me. I bent down and pat his head… Did Togepi even have heads? Oh well, whatever he had I pat it.

"Yes, I'm Hailey. This is Fine."

He looked somewhat confused. "What's fine?"

Fine growled and looked insulted; "That's my name, you eggshell."

Embryo blushed and said, "I'm so sorry! It's nice to meet you! I hope we get along!"

"Yeah, yeah," Fine turned away and stuck her nose in the air.

"What the heck is going on here?" a voice said behind us. We all snapped around to see the tall girl that came into the library from before. I didn't know her name, so I decided to call her Ponytail.

Embryo leapt into Drew's arms as the boy lowered them to hold his pokemon. The small egg pokemon was shaking and trying to hide in Drew's jacket, looking terrified. Fine was frozen in shock, her mouth slightly hanging open in surprise. Drew and I sat there waiting for something to happen; someone to move; something to be spoken.

"Well?" she repeated impatiently.

"I don't believe that's any of your business," I snapped.

The girl's frown deepened. "Oh, I believe it is." She brought out her wrist; and there sat a Poke Commune.

"Shit," Fine cursed, growling at the girl. "We've been found already!"

"Sorry, lady," Embryo said sweetly, yet nervously, "But we can't fight you today. We haven't been trained yet."

Ponytail chuckled and said, "That's kinda obvious eggy. I see you guys are making allies. I think it'd be interesting to pair up with the Ice Queen and see how far she gets in this competition. Anyway, it'd be nice to have friends this early in the game and you surely can't argue with that, now can you?"

Fine's tail twitched. "She has a point… But I don't like this. How can we trust you?"

"You can trust me just fine, foxy. I'm not one to break promises. Anyway, I'm captain of the volleyball team; so I'm used to vigorous training. You guys might not be. It'd be useful to train both trainer and pokemon so that we can endure more. Plus, the more the merrier. I could be backup or whatever and I hear you guys are making a base, right? I could help."

Drew glared at the girl and was about to say something before I interrupted him. "Why not?" I narrowed my eyes at her slightly. "I'm willing to give you a chance. You seem like a tough chick; I sure as hell don't want to screw with you in battle, so having you as a friend would help better than to make you an enemy."

"Same could be said to you," Ponytail replied.

"Thanks. Anyway, she makes a lot of good points and I believe they focus a lot towards our best interests. What's your name, Ponytail?"

"Huh, funny," Ponytail commented with a smirk. "The name's Sarah Gabriel."

"Nice to meet ya, Sarah," I smiled genuinely, dropping the intimidating tough girl act for now, which seemed to take her by slight surprise. "My name is – "

"Oh, believe me, I know who you two are," she cut me off quickly. "You guys are Drew Copper; one of the most popular guys in school; and Hailey Hart; one of the most hated people in school."

"I sure as hell have a bad reputation don't I?" I muttered darkly in annoyance.

Sarah chuckled. "At least people won't mess with you."

"Nah," I corrected her, "I still get bothered; probably more than others because I'm so... me."

Fine looked alarmed. "W-what!? You're already hated? Meaning you already have many enemies, correct? Oh Arceus, why was I paired with this girl?"

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly. "I'm your partner so you should deal with it. I'm not hated because I want to be; I'm hated because people don't like my personality."

"That's not right," Sarah said with a light smile. "You're hated because you're different."

"Probably," I agreed.

Drew growled and said, "Don't just agree with her! Stand up for yourself!"

"Well, she's right," I countered. "Why would I disagree with the truth?"

"Hold on," Sarah chided. "Don't get ahead of ourselves here. People don't like different because they aren't used to it; if it's out of the norm it's foreign. And foreign is bad."

"THAT'S RACIST!" I shouted dramatically. "Kidding; please continue."

"Maybe they don't like you because you're immature and obnoxious…" Fine chimed in.

"Thanks a whole bunch for the pep-talk you snotty Eevee!"

Sarah cleared her throat and said, "You see; if you were to find a very beautiful and unique cherry blossom, would you pick it or leave it be?"

"Pick it…" Drew sighed. I nodded silently, immediately understanding.

"You would pick it because it was different from the others; thus cutting off its connection to life and not allowing it to continue to blossom and become a delicious cherry but forcing it to give up its life to become an item for human entertainment. That is how society treats humans that are different from the masses."

"You're wise for a she-jock," I commented.

"Thanks... I think."

"This is all touching and stuff…" Fine stated, sounding bored and fed-up with all of us, "but do we not have things to do? We should meet back here tomorrow and start planning on our base. We need to get it finished before winter. Also, we need to work out a way so people don't come here and so we aren't suspected. I'm very tired; Hailey, please take me to my new home. Good-day, everyone. Until tomorrow," she bid everyone farewell while swishing her tail.

"Yeah, and I got stuck with the brat!" I muttered to the other two. Sarah laughed slightly and Drew chuckled. They quickly glared at each other. I had a feeling it would take a while for these two to get used to one another…

"See ya later, Hailey. I've got to do some stuff for the 'rents, so I can't walk back with you."

"That's okay," I waved to him. "See you tomorrow, Drew, Sarah."

"Where are we going, exactly?" Fine asked snootily.

"My house," I replied, already getting sick of the Eevee's constant bitching.

"Where is that?"

I sighed, my head beginning to hurt. "On a street called Rosewell Street. I live in the blue and white house, just in case you wanted to know that."

"You sound upset…"

_Yeah: no shit Sherlock._ "No… I'm just tired," is what I said out loud.

"That's sensible," Fine stated as she continued to strut down the street, her nose and tail high in the air. I looked down at her in annoyance before shaking my head deciding to leave it be.

I opened the door to my presently empty house, left my shoes by the welcome mat, and shut the door. Tossing my backpack aside, I began to climb up the stairs towards my room.

I heard the little pitter-patter of Eevee feet close behind me. I walked into my room and sat on the bed. Fine sat down on the carpet and surveyed everything with curiosity.

"Now listen," I said, grabbing her attention. "Whenever we are at my house and my parents are home, you MUST remain silent and stay in this room. My parents come home very late, so you can do whatever wherever until they get home. Understood?"

"Yes," she responded, clearly impressed by the seriousness of my tone.

She entirely made me sad on the inside. I thought Eevees were supposed to be cute, fluffy, and lovable; not serious, snobby, bratty, and bossy! If she went around flirting with anything that moved, she'd fit Susan Lane to a fricking T! At least more than she fit me!

My Poke Commune buzzed on my wrist, catching me by surprise.

Fine hopped up onto the bed and sat next to me. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure…" I tapped the screen and it said, "Incoming Message. Answer?"

A "yes" and a "no" caption appeared just like it did from the message from yesterday and I tapped the "yes" option.

"Hello, Miss Hart!" It read. It was from the Big Guy! "You have survived the first day; congratulations!"

"Some people have already started?" I asked in alarm. "But it's only the first day!"

"Are you really all that surprised?" Fine asked.

"Not really… but still. It's a little intense."

"Those humans must really want that reward."

"I guess…"

The Big Guy continued. "Now remember; it is VERY dangerous out at night, so I wouldn't walk by myself in the dark if I were you."

"There's that too… we should be okay inside; but outside is a dangerous territory," Fine muttered darkly.

"I have absolutely no intentions of going out at night, so rest assured." I muttered somewhat sarcastically.

"134 players have been eliminated today, leaving 3866 people left, not including pokemon. Keep in mind that many, many players shall be bound to get eliminated within the first couple of weeks. The value of players increase the longer they survive and the numbers of players getting eliminated will get lower and lower."

"Why do I feel like he's making this all up as he goes along?" I mumbled quietly to myself.

"I wish the remaining players good luck and I shall contact you all tomorrow at the same time as today. For those of you whose eggs have already hatched; wonderful job! You're obviously fit to be caretakers if you've already managed this much! You would do well to start training if you haven't already. I shall release the legendaries to be caught or defeated at month three where I can be sure their opponents won't be too easily killed. Thank you all and may the odds be in your own favor rather than that of someone else. Goodnight!"

Fine and I sat there in silence, both of our blood having had run cold. "He just _loves_ freaking me out, doesn't he?" I sighed.

Fine rounded on me and snarled, "Can't you just take this more seriously? Pokemon have already been either killed or separated from their hatchers! That Sarah girl could've equally fought us and defeated us just as well as became our ally!"

I glared at her but said nothing.

"Why did you bother playing if you can't accept what's happening?"

"Nothing's happened to us yet. I get what you mean and I'll try to work a bit harder on effort. However we've only been playing for _**less**_ than a FRICKING _**day**_ and we've gotten a ton of brainstorming done. Plus we've made two allies. I'd say we've started off pretty well."

She looked taken aback, as if she couldn't believe I had the audacity to talk back at her; well if I had anything it had to be audacity; audacity and a LOT of patience. "…I suppose…"

My Poke Commune rang again but this time it offered to chat with someone. Who could be chatting with me? I'd never even given out my Commune number. I didn't even know what it was myself…

Two options popped up; "accept" and "reject". I tapped the "accept" option, curiosity overriding caution. The face of the shy girl I bumped into the hall earlier today popped up. She was playing the game? From what I'd seen today, though, who wasn't? 'Cause apparently, by the looks of it, everyone was.

"How do you have this number?" I snarled.

The girl visibly flinched and quietly replied, "I-I'm sorry! B-b-but my friend Sarah told me to look you up and…" she was stammering and shaking. I would have offered a kind word or two if I still wasn't put off.

I glared and said, "I never gave her my number."

"Sh-she said you had an Eevee…" the girl whimpered.

"So what?"

"W-well, th-there are only s-seven p-players in the whole world with an Eevee, s-so I looked you up in the s-search option on m-m-my Poke Commune d-database."

"Heh, well isn't technology amazing. So?"

The girl flinched again. "W-what do you mean?" she stuttered.

"You looked me up, but for what?"

She smiled slightly. "Sarah said she became a-allies with you and I'm her a-ally as well… s-so I was wondering if w-we should become a-allies too…"

"What?" Fine growled in shock. "Hailey, stop making alliances with all these pathetic weaklings! We should be looking for powerful allies, not-!"

I knocked her over with my pillow. "Quiet, Fine!" I turned back to the girl and said, "Sorry… my Eevee's not really as lovable as one would think."

"T-that's alright."

"I accept."

She looked confused for a second before asking, "What do you accept?"

"You as an ally. It's good to have more friends than enemies in this kind of game."

The girl smiled and said, "You're not as bad or as mean as the people in school say you are."

"I've been getting that a lot lately." I grinned. "You're not as shy as I took you for either. What's your name?"

"I'm Holly Douglas."

"Nice to meet you, Holly. Sorry I was rude and stuff when I answered. I was just suspicious. Oh, I didn't introduce myself. I'm-."

"I know your name already," the girl – I mean Holly – said nervously. "You're kind of famous at school, I mean, if you didn't know that already…"

"Oh yeah," I sighed. "I keep forgetting about that. Even if I'm famous it's not for a good reason or for being pretty or nice, that's for sure."

"Well I've never listened to all those bullies who have nothing to do but be mean to others. I actually think you're kind of cool," she said shyly, blushing a little and putting her fingers together like people do in anime.

I gave her a look of disbelief. "Cool? Me? How in Mr. Potato Head's good name did you get that? Those are two words that shouldn't belong in the same sentence!"

"Well you always have a comeback ready for whatever bullies say to you, you don't try to be pretty and popular, and you can stand up to Susan Lane – or anybody for that matter."

"Oh, that bitch?" Holly flinched at my choice of words. "She's nothing much."

"She's really mean. She makes me do stuff for her and she hurts me if I don't do it right or if I say no to her."

That didn't sit well with me. "What does she do to you?" I asked angrily.

"She slaps me, writes mean words on me in marker, rips at my hair, and a bunch of other stuff I'd really rather not talk about… but it's alright… I probably deserve it anyway…"

Something ignited in me that made me want to jump up, run to Susan Lane's house and kick her in the ovaries; hard. That bitch always left me alone physically because she knows I could kick her sorry, lame, flappy ass with both arms and a leg tied behind my back without blinking an eye or breaking a sweat. Holly was obviously a different story. Not anymore if I had anything to say about it; which now, as her ally and hopefully future friend, I most definitely did.

"Well that's stopping right this very second because we're friends now," I said in a somewhat protective voice which kinda surprised me. "If she ever hurts you again; I'll rip her dirty, ratty ass extensions out with a leaf-blower on reverse. When I've gathered all her hair I'll bake it into a pie and force-feed it to her in front of the entire school and make sure someone video tapes it and posts it on YouTube."

Holly smiled, albeit looking a little worried and afraid of my threat; something I would do if I had the resources or the energy. I would probably just opt for bitch slapping the girl instead. "Really?"

"Yeah. I have friends for the first time in my sorry life. If anyone even thinks of hurting them, they have an insanely pissed off Hailey Hart to deal with, answer to, and fear for all of eternity."

"That means a lot, Hailey. Thank you so much."

A thought crossed through my mind. "Has your egg hatched yet?"

"Yes, it has," she answered.

"What pokemon?"

"Pichu. His name is Sparky."

"Fitting," I commented.

"You could have made my name more fitting…" complained Fine from a corner on the opposite side of the room.

"Yeah, well you could stop being such a snob!"

"Who was that?" Holly asked in alarm, probably thinking I was speaking to another person.

"It was Fine."

"Well who was it?"

"Fine."

"I didn't mean to offend you in any way-."

"No! Her name is actually Fine; like literally, that's what I named her. My Eevee!" I laughed.

"Oh! That makes so much more sense!"

I laughed but Fine growled and curled into a fluffy ball. I didn't understand what was wrong with her. There was no reason for her to be mad about anything. We weren't doing anything wrong! Sheesh!

"Hey," I thought of something, "How about you meet me in the library tomorrow?"

Holly brightened – even though she already was sunny and bright enough for the whole world when she wasn't cowering or quivering from shyness – and smiled. "That sounds great! I'll bring Sarah!"

"Sounds good," I confirmed. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow!" Holly waved and clicked the disconnect button. After I clicked it I turned to Fine and sighed.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked.

She huffed and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "You."

"What about me?"

She didn't answer me. Instead, she gave me the cold shoulder and curled further into her spot.

Ignoring her, I went downstairs and made myself some microwave food. I cracked my knuckles and got to work on the teetering mountain of homework for biology, algebra, art, and English. It really seems like our teachers gang up on us doesn't it? Like they have conferences and they're all like, "Are you assigning something tomorrow, Mr. Darwin? Oh, three essays you say? And a book report, Mrs. Cooper? I may as well assign a huge flaming packet of death from Hell while we're at it! How enjoyable their pain is!" I'm so sure they do this; and I'm just as sure they love every flipping second of it. Well, other than grading it; but they usually make us do that in the form of in class peer-editing, now don't they?

My mother came home around 8:48 and I had just finished cleaning the mess I made in the kitchen. In my mind it was pure coincidence that she caught me cleaning right at that moment; in my mother's mind it meant I was doing chores. She grabbed me in a huge, suffocating hug and squealed, "You're such a good girl! You're going to be a great girlfriend someday!" That's all my mother cared about; looks and dating. I couldn't stand her. She disgusted me.

She went to bed just before it turned 9:00. I went upstairs and began to read a little of _Wolf Brother_, even though I had read the book five times already. I had a huge space in my closet – since I never went out clothes shopping for I had not the money or parents who gave me the money – for my many books. The problem was that I had already read all of them and my parents refused to buy me new ones… I got new ones every once in a while from Laura; she was more of a mother to me than my real one. At about 9:45, _it_ came back home.

I heard the door downstairs open and close. SHIT! I thought. I had to shut off all the lights in my room, change out of my day clothes and into my pajamas, and get in bed by the time my father came upstairs to check on me.  
He opened my door just as I was about to get under the covers. He glared at me with all his might. No. NONONONONONO! I was just a few seconds off! He stomped up to me and slapped me straight across the face.

I heard a little gasp and I dared to glance at where it came from for just a second. I saw a fuzzy shape move in the corner of the room and I realized it was Fine. I hadn't put her back in her Pokeball; I had forgotten to in my terror.

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!" he screamed at me, his huge, bulging neck turning a deep shade of red and his veins nearly popping out in fury; he was drunk off his ass. I tried to merge with my floor in attempt to get away from him. It didn't work; it never worked. "WHY AREN'T YOU IN THAT DAMN BED YET? DON'T YOU LIKE THE SHIT I BUY YOU? SHOULD WE GO LIVE ON THE GODDAMN STREETS IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO USE YOUR SHIT!? AND CLEAN YOUR DAMN ROOM! THERE ARE CLOTHES ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE AND USELESS PIECES OF PAPER EVERY-FUCKING-WHERE! SHOW SOME GODDAMN RESPECT! I WORK NINETEEN HOURS EVERY FUCKING DAY! IS THIS HOW YOU SHOW RESPECT? ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED!?"

He shouted each word, landing a blow on me for every other one. He was ridiculously drunk… Not as drunk as he was last time… thank God. He left the room and it took all of my strength to climb onto my bed. It was all I could do to not start sobbing. It hurt everywhere, but not as much as it did in my heart. The hot tears rolled down my cheeks before I could stop them, pooling underneath my face and staining my pillow.

"H-hailey…?" came a quiet voice. I turned to see Fine, small trails of wet tears that were staining her fur darker than the rest of her face. "Why did that man do that?" she hiccupped. "Who was he?"

"That was my father, Fine," I unsteadily breathed out, my voice wavering.

"D-don't lie!" she whispered in distress. "Dads don't do that! Do they?"

"Mine does."

Fine leaped up onto the bed and stared at me as I cried myself to sleep.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-Pokemon Heart-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-


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